The Shadow of an Ultimate End
by tetrisfreak
Summary: A mysterious teen with psychic powers. An entire universe out to kill him. Rated for violence and language R&R chap 4 up
1. Introduction of the Players of the Game

Note: No, I don't own Teen Titans. However, there are 2 characters in here who I do own.

And this is my first fanfic, ever, so please be gentle right now.

Begin Story: The Introduction of the Players of the Game

The cloaked figure glided swiftly down the hallway, pausing for a brief second at every room. The black figure was searching for something within these school walls. Silently, he floated from door to door, searching the minds of everyone in each room for only a second and then moving on. He moved quickly and quietly, not causing a single disruption to the classes. The lone student whose eyes happened to gaze at the door when he passed by merely thought they were seeing things from boredom.

The figure cursed to himself for having to actually travel through the hallways, searching each room individually since he wasn't powerful enough yet to scan the entire building from the outside. _But then again, this kid wasn't supposed to appear for another 50 years. No matter, I am still powerful enough for what I need to do._

It only took him a few minutes to finish checking the entire high school. He hovered in place for a moment, pondering his next step, having failed at finding his objective. His body-length cape and hood bristled slightly, blown by an unseen and unfelt gust of air. Suddenly, a red glow surrounded his cloak. The aura appeared to be burning around the man, growing brighter and brighter. The ground below the school's foundation started to cave in. _Oh well_, he thought to himself, _one less place to search now._

With that, the light disappeared along with the mysterious person, only to have, an instant later, the entire school engulfed in a massive ball of fire. The flame formed a perfect sphere, covering the facility flawlessly. The heat disintegrated everything inside immediately, leaving no survivors. As suddenly as it appeared, the blaze was gone, leaving a gigantic crater where the school had been only a couple of seconds ago. Smoke drifted up from the bare ground, the lone symbol that something had previously occupied this charred territory. _On to the next place_, and with another flash of light, he disappeared into the air.

A few minutes earlier-

_Damnit, not again. How does he keep managing to find me?_ Loch thought silently to himself as he felt the sinister presence in the school. _He's after me, no doubt about it. And once again, I can't do anything to help anyone._

The young, brown-haired teen stared silently out the door window. He saw the figure traveling down the other side of the hallway, and knew he would come to this side of the hall shortly. He quickly put up a mind barrier, so that this man in the hallway couldn't detect him. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as he watched the familiar shape glide past the window; felt him brush against his mind barrier, and move on. He waited for half a minute, and then asked to be excused from the room.

Quickly, he ran to the restroom, knowing that there wasn't much time left. He checked to make sure no one had seen him, even though he knew that since this guy was back, there was really no point to it; even if someone saw him, they weren't going to be alive long enough to tell their story.

He dashed into a nearby stall and closed the door behind him. Again, this was merely out of habit, since Loch knew the door wouldn't survive to be opened again. Loch shut his eyes and concentrated. His body began to glow in an outline of dark green, and then the aura enveloped his body, so he was a ball of green. "Home," Loch whispered, and the ball collapsed in and disappeared.

A second later, the ball reappeared over a bed in a nearby suburb. It grew back to its original size and dropped Loch out of it. He landed on the bed with a soft thud and quickly regained his senses. He ran over to his window, just in time to see a giant ball of fire suddenly appear where his school used to belong. He turned away, afraid the person who created the ball of destruction would see him. He waited until he sensed that the evil force had teleported away, and then fell to the floor, tears slowly coming to his eyes.

Titan's Tower was suddenly filled with a blaringly loud alarm. Red lights were going off all over the place, and the T.V. automatically switched to the distress channel, created by the city whenever a danger presented itself. Of course, this interrupted Cyborg and Beast Boy's current game, and both silently cursed at the new addition to the T.V.

"Please don't tell me it's another school," Robin said as he ran up to the couch Cyborg and Beast Boy were occupying. The news report flashed up on screen with a picture of a massive crater in a small box next to the reporter.

"Our news copters are now on site, about to show you first hand footage of the latest tragedy this week." The news feed then cut to a live image of the crater. Smoke was still coming up in some places, but the news camera showed everything. However, there was nothing to show, save for the fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.

"As the ninth school this week, Cherokee High has been completely destroyed. Authorities still have no leads as to the cause of this scene of devastation, except that it is connected to the previous eight schools that have been mysteriously and utterly demolished. This knowledge comes from the similar smoke signals that create themselves every time." With this, the camera on the copter angled upward so that everyone watching the news could see. The smoke from the fire had moved itself into shapes that spelled a message. The same message that was left every time: 'I know you're out there.'

The screen returned to the station, but Robin clicked off the T.V. and threw the remote onto the couch. The Titans merely stood in the main room, looking at each other hopelessly. Another school gone without any warning, and, even though they would still go, no clues would be left behind. Everything would be completely gone, as though it had vanished into thin air, except for the crater and smoke. And it appeared to be random. No possible connection had been established between any of the 8 previous schools, and it was unlikely that this 9th one would add something new. The Titans looked despairingly around their base as they realized there was a new evil present that they knew nothing about.


	2. Aftermath

Note: No, I don't own Teen Titans. However, there are 2 characters in here who I do own. And this is my first fanfic, ever, so not too hard on the reviews.

Note2: Props to sum4jc for doing the whole Beta-read thing for me. It's good to have someone willing to read these before they get posted.

_Knock knock_

"Loch, are you in there?" a sweet, motherly voice asked through the door. Loch was still sitting below his window, eyes closed, the tears having dried up, but his sniffling hadn't. His new foster mother had just returned from her grocery shopping right as the school incident occurred. As soon as she realized what was going on, she had dashed up to his room.

_Knock knock_

"Loch, please answer me." The voice was beginning to plead now. "Please tell me you skipped again today." The sounds were becoming fainter to his ears. Already, a green glow began to envelope his body, starting around his feet. He opened his eyes and watched the aura travel up his body. A few seconds before he was completely engulfed, he sent his latest "former" mother a telepathic goodbye as he disappeared from the room.

Instantly, the green ball appeared at the edge of the city, in an empty alley. The drop wasn't from nearly as high up as his last time. "I'm definitely getting better at controlling my teleports," he said quietly to no one. He had no actual possessions of his own, so his leaving with nothing but his clothing was nothing new. He glanced in the direction of his previous home, and let out a lonely sigh, wishing he could stop running and hiding. But with that mysterious person always chasing him, Loch had no other choice.

The Titans had arrived at the crater shortly after the news channel had ended their initial report. The scene was the same as always: a large opening in the ground filled only with smoke. No matter how much they searched, not a single thing was to be found on the rim. Not a single Titan wanted to go down into that smoking hole.

After splitting up and regrouping on the other side of the crater, they met with the usual faces of disappointment, neither team having found anything of use. "So, now what?" asked the cloaked Raven, peering out from her hood at the masked leader.

"I guess," Robin replied, "we just tell the authorities about what we always find." He kicked a nearby rock in disgust and watched as it bounced down the side. Cyborg watched it also, then turned and stared out at the rest of the nearby houses. Suddenly, a puzzled look crossed his face.

"Hey guys, I just thought of something." Cyborg reached over to tap Robin on the shoulder, not realizing that Robin had knelt down on the edge of the rim. Cyborg started to lose his balance, arms swinging wildly about. One swing happened to catch Robin in the side as he tried to stand up and get out of the way, knocking him off balance now. The rest of the Titans watched in silent amusement at the sudden slapstick act.

However, a small gasp came from the three watching as Cyborg finally fell over, head-butting Robin and knocking him fully over the side. Starfire let out a sharp cry, then dove down after Robin as he rolled down the side and disappeared behind the closest smoke column.

A red flash of light appeared over a diner 6 blocks away from the school. The cloaked figure appeared, hovering over the roof. He scanned the minds inside, and, for the first time today, found something he was looking for. A lone man, enjoying his lunch inside while watching a strange news report on the TV, suddenly found himself covered in a red glow, then inside a dark, cold, damp room. With no stool underneath him, he lost his balance and tumbled backwards onto cool rock.

The man looked around wildly, his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden darkness, but no light entered this strange room. His breathing started to rise, his heartbeat increasing, sweat covering his brow and hands. He tried to crawl backwards, but found he was already against a wall.

Then, a small red light appeared in front of him. His breathing froze as he watched the floating orb of red coming towards him. Shortly, he could tell it wasn't light, but a fireball, hovering in the air. The flame was growing bigger, revealing the figure holding it in his hands. Slowly, the cloak came into view as the fire created light for his eyes to adjust with.

"Wha..Wha…What do you..you.youwantfromme?" The old man stuttered, staring crazily at this figure, still approaching him, as the fire still grew bigger.

"Nothing I can't get already."

Note: Dun dun dun


	3. More surprises

Note: No, I don't own Teen Titans. However, there are 2 characters in here who I do own. And this is my first fanfic, ever, so not too hard on the reviews.

Note2: Props to sum4jc for doing the whole Beta-read thing for me. It's good to have someone willing to read these before they get posted.

Note3: Yeah, um, people, don't know if anyone's actually reading this, but if you are, reviews are appreciated. Just pointing that out. tips hat

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven watched as Starfire dived down through the smoke after Robin, then all 3 breathed a sigh of relief when they saw them both come from the column. She carried Robin by his hands, and flew gently to the rest of the Titans. She let go of Robin, who landed smoothly, and came back to the ground next to him. She started to wipe her face with her sleeve, then stopped. "Um, this is most peculiar, is it not?"

"What is it?" asked Robin.

"Is it not true that when fire creates smoke, those little black things are mixed into it?"

Raven spoke next. "Do you mean ashes?"

"Yes," Starfire responded, giving a little clap. "ashes. And they create a mess of faces, do they not, if they come in contact with faces?"

Now the rest of the Titans were puzzled, for even though both Robin and Starfire had traveled through the smoke column, neither showed any signs of ashes on their faces, or any part of their body or clothing for that matter.

The old man, named Alex, was on the ground of the exit-less cave, writhing on the ground, his hands covering his ears. "Please stop," he cried between sobs, "just, please, stop it."

The cloaked figure just hovered above Alex, staring down at him in concentration, the flame still in his hands. He eyes flittered back and forth, as though reading through a book at hyper speed. He was scanning this man's mind, for a quick search had revealed local contact with his target. The boy names Loch Stevens. He had to find him, and the sooner, the better. He had his agenda to complete, before anyone else could interfere.

A greedy smile crossed his face. He had emptied the man's mind of all knowledge of Loch. "Well, thank you for your cooperation in the matter. However, I have other appointments to make, so I must leave you now. Oh, and there is no way in or out of here, so you may decide your own death fate. Suffocation should set in in about 20 minutes. Your mind has weakened considerably, so insanity should come quickly. Maybe you'll have a fun death." A deep, loud laugh came from the hood, and echoed back and forth within the large cave. The figure watched the twitching below him in silent delight, then tensed suddenly. He sensed something in the city. Someone was using their powers, but it didn't feel like the boy. "No, someone else is here for him. He's supposed to be mine to kill."

The red aura appeared, covering the figure quickly, and disappearing as quickly as it appeared, leaving Alex to himself in the exit-less cave.

Loch walked through the alleys, trying his best to stay out of sight of the main roads. Loch wished he could fly, but he was certain the cloaked person was tracking him by his power usage, so he had to walk. He could barely sense the person, so he knew he wasn't safe yet. He needed to get out of the city now, before any more of the people here died because of him.

"I wish I knew who that guy is," Loch stuttered to himself. "Why is he always after me?"

"_I can answer that."_

Loch spun around, looking furiously for the voice. However, he found himself alone in the alley. He conducted a quick mind scan, and found no one with psychic powers nearby. _"Unless they're mind blocking, like I can,"_ he thought.

"_You're almost right. I'm not mind blocking, just spirit blocking. A power you will soon learn."_ With that, a white light appeared suddenly to his left. It was bright and piercing, and Loch had to hide his face to keep from being blinded. When it finally went away, Loch turned around to find a floating mist, no solid form at all. _"Don't worry, I'm just still partly spirit blocking. There are others here who must not see me."_ Almost as if on cue, a red flash appeared further down in the alley, the cloaked figure showing himself after the aura was gone.

A fury appeared on his eyes as he saw the mist. "No you don't." He started to advance towards the pair. "He's mine." His eyes began to glow bright red. "I found the Ultimate first." His eyes appeared to be shooting out flames. "I found him 50 years before he should arrive, but he's here nonetheless." He stopped, 5 yards away, and raised his hands, both of which were covered in flames. "No others shall claim him but me." A powerful burst of flame shot from his hands, completely engulfing the alley and instantly disintegrating everything in its path.


	4. Meetings

Note: No, I don't own Teen Titans. However, there are 3 characters in here who I do own. And reviews give me that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Or at least I want to blame it on reviews and not my dinner, so give me more excuses to blame it on please.

Thanks to sum4jcfor beta reading. You should go check out her fics, they're really good.

Thanks to Knotz for my first review

The inferno roared down the narrow alley. Trash cans were ripped to shreds by the force of the heat. Insects popped from the enormous pressure, and then their inside immediately vaporized thereafter. Bricks were torn from the walls, broken into chunks, and sent flying through the air. Windows shattered, then melted in midair, forming little balls that bounced off of the walls as they traveled through the passage.

"No one….but me….shall..claim…him." The cloaked figure walked down the alley towards where Loch had been just moments before. The smoke was filling up the air, making it too hard to see anything. "I got him. There's no energy, and there was no teleportation. He's dead, and his power belongs to me now." A small, yet deep laugh emanated from his throat as he stopped to stare at the wreckage of the alleyway.

"_We are not yet beaten, Toren." _The voice radiated from the smoke, causing the hooded figure to back up. The smoke started spinning into a vortex, a green haze emitting from it.

"It's..it's not possible. No one could have survived through that." His eyes began to glow bright red. "I have trained myself to be the ultimate." He was walking forward, raising his hands in front of himself. "I will be ultimate. I don't know how you got my name, but it does you little good."

A powerful beam of electricity shot from the smoke, the smoke swirling around it. The bolt caught Toren square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He righted himself in midair, slightly shaking from the shock, then proceeded to fire a volley of fireballs down the alley. Each one, however, was stopped mere seconds after being fired, and redirected themselves back at Toren. Being caught off guard again, Tored tried desperately to dodge the incoming flames, but to no avail. The flames burned straight through his clothes and torched his skin, burning through the outer layer into his body, all the way to the bone. Screaming out in pain, Toren collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. The mist approached him as he went into spasms on the ground.

"Why are you protecting him?" Toren spat out as the mist came closer. "You want his power, why didn't you take it already?"

"_I am not protecting him. Everything that has happened has been done by this boy."_ The mist moved aside to show Loch, the green aura surrounding him, his eyes burning with a green flame. _"If you do not know of the legend that follows this boy, you do not deserve his power."_ Toren's eyes grew large as the aura around Loch's body lifted off of him and flew straight into Toren. Toren had no time to yell as his body disintegrated. A red mist appeared, floating in the air, as if it had a life of its own. Loch raised his hand at the new mist, and the mist flew right towards Loch's hand. It became absorbed through his skin and disappeared. _"And so it begins."_

"Waitaminute, that's not possible!" BeastBoy exclaimed. He was running around the 2 titans quickly, examining them. "There's nothing there," he said as he pulled up Robin's cape. "No dirt, ashes, nothing, but we saw them go through the smoke."

"If there's smoke, there's fire," Raven commented calmly. "And if there's fire, there's fuel."

"But there is no fire. I would have been burned by it." Robin lifted his arms to show the lack of burn marks.

"Aaaahhh!" BeastBoy yelled, clutching his head. "Nothing makes sense, and my head's hurting. Make it stop, please, or at least make sense."

"Well then, don't listen to this. If there was an explosion from inside the school, where is the debris? Pieces of the school, littering around everywhere. There's none, which means that the explosion was contained, probably by a force field. However, for a force field to be able to hold an explosion of this size and power, it would require a generator the size of a house."

"Or a barrier." Raven coolly said.

"Force field, barrier, same thing."

"No, not the same thing. I don't meana barrier from a machine, I mean a psychic barrier. A pyrokinetic puts up a telekinetic barrier around the school, then fills the barrier with fire. It also explains the smoke without fire: a gasaelokinetic."

"So then, there are other psychics out there?" Starfire asked. "I thought there was only you. How do you know there are others?"

Raven peered calmly through her hood. "We have meetings."


End file.
